A Boogie wit da Hoodie

I was always writing, since I was, like, 12.

Growing up in Highbridge was real. Me and all my friends, we never really went to any other places in the Bronx but Highbridge. We always just stayed in Highbridge. It was like territory, to be honest, because Highbridge is like a town.

You always gonna feel me. That's my main thing. When I'm speaking in my music, you gotta feel me.

Having a daughter made my music, I guess, more meaningful. It made me see more of life when I had my daughter.

I was trying to make my name just Artist in the beginning, but it was weird at first, because I wasn't an R&B singer or nothing. Not an R&B singer. I didn't do no melodic songs, none of that yet.

Me and Tory Lanez got good chemistry together. We could make a song so easy, but we always like to figure out what we're really doing. We can make a good song, but it gotta make sense.

I pick and choose what I want to put on what. Instead of just dropping a single, I like putting projects together.

Even though I can't dance, that's, like, the one thing I wished I could do growing up. I used act like I was MJ, doing the moonwalk, tip toes, leg kick, all that.

Me and Thugger could make nine songs in a day and then choose which songs we like the most and think is gonna do something. With other people, it's like, we pick one song, and we hope it's the one.

Everybody was always telling me to rap and freestyle. I used to go to the park and spit on the mic. If I go to the park, they always gonna give me the mic.

I'm not the type of person who makes a lot of songs in a day just to see which one is the best.

I got so many people that have my number. It's crazy. I just don't feel like texting anybody back after I get, like, 30 text messages in three hours. I just be chilling.

I found my sound through exploring. I was in the studio yelling, going low, trying things, and that's how I found that I have a lot of sounds.

I never knew Artist was going to get this big. When I was making it, I put my all into it. But you never know what's going to happen with something you make.

When I was 13, before I got in high school, I was writing mad raps. I didn't really know if it was good or not, so for a year, I just held them. When I got in high school, I started spittin' bars.

Highbridge - everybody rap in Highbridge; everyone grew up rappin' or playing basketball.

This is the most fun thing in the world to me, making music. Sitting down, I can make songs and not leave the booth, ever, and I love it.

A lot of people don't know that: that Artist is my name.

If you listen to me, it's real stories. It's catchy and something you can relate to.

I wasn't really comfortable going to college.

I just wanna be relevant.

You can't say I don't sound like a N.Y. rapper - it's because I don't wanna sound like nobody else.

The album 'Hoodie SZN' is about the result of where I come from: it gave me this black heart. And the black heart represents depression.

Its crazy: my name is Artist, and I dead can't even paint.

'Remember the Time' and 'You Rock My World' from Michael Jackson were two of my favorite songs ever. My mom used to bump them all the time.

I was inspired to shoot 'Look Back at It' in a high school because I'm like a voice of the youth. When the youth sees me in a classroom, I want them to be inspired to accomplish their dreams. I was just like them in a classroom at one point. It all starts in a classroom.

I want to be the next legend.

People's hustle in the Bronx is real.

2017 was crazy when I made the 'Freshman' cover 'cause I looked up to it, and I really wanted to be in it. It was motivation for me after that: I kept on going, and I grinded.

My first mixtape especially - that came from a heartbreak.

'A' comes from Artist. And 'Boogie' from the Bronx. 'The Hoodie' part came from just having a hoodie on a lot.

I overloaded myself with work. I give myself work to do so I don't give myself time to chill and have free time to chill with the family as much.

Perfecting your craft is one of the main keys in being successful.

I don't wanna learn about more science and math. That's not why I'm going to college.

Everything I do is me. I don't like taking ideas from people unless they're the G.O.A.T.

Being self-made means putting yourself in position to help others put themselves in position to be successful.

Everybody should start listening to love songs.

If it wasn't for the Internet, I don't know where I'd be.

Before I was even famous, I was famous on Facebook.

Why do you think my name is Artist? I'm an artist.

I always looked up to people who did more than just rap or focus on music. I'm inspired by the people who put their different talents to use and turned it into something bigger.

I had to realize that you can't try to get money, support yourself, and grind doing whatchu need to do at the same time. The music is the grind. You really gotta grind. You gotta find your way around. You can't be stuck tryna get there.

Some of my songs are turnt up, but that's just 'cause I have to make 'em like that so the clubs can play them.

I look at goals, like, what do I want to do and where do I want to see myself. What position to I want to be in going forward.

Partnering up with the Monster Energy Outbreak Tour marks a milestone moment in my career.

One day, walking through the Bronx streets, I just realized that people were stopping me, taking pictures, and noticing me from across the street. I can't even use public transportation anymore, so I kind of stopped going places and started going straight to the studio, going home, and telling people I can't go anywhere anymore.

I can't even lie: Sometimes, I be antisocial.

No matter where I'm at in life, whether I'm in the music industry, rich, poor, everybody need love in their life. Gangsta or not, everybody need love in their life. You can't act too hard about that.

I'm not really rocking with mixtapes no more. EPs and albums - that's it.

I started off throwing out 'Artist.' I made that my first mixtape. Then, I threw out 'TBA,' which means 'To Be Announced.'